Cover photo: Space Patrol 1960
Tal Avitzur
Talbotics
talbotics.com
HB: Tell us about your handmade business.
TA: I create sci-fi/fantasy inspired sculptures from urban detritus.
HB: Tell other handmade artisans an interesting anecdote about your business or your product.
TA: Since the word in my town is now out, as to what I do, I sometimes come home to find objects deposited at my front gate that people think would be useful for my art. I’m very thankful that people are kind enough to think of me, but I often find it interesting that people think a rusty, old barbecue or a broken toaster would be something I could use. It’s okay, I know where the scrap yard is.
HB: Explain a turning point or defining moment that changed your business.
TA: I often get requests for some crazy commissions. One person recently asked for a monkey, wearing a scarf, in a top hat driving a Chevy. When I figured out that I’m going to make what I want and like, and not what other people want, it was a relief. I do what I do because I enjoy it, and hopefully there will be someone out there who will buy it. If not, at least I have something I like.
HB: How did you overcome any setbacks your handmade business faced?
TA: It is getting more difficult to find material at the local scrap yards, and some no longer allow the public inside to pick through their scrap metal piles. I just have to rely more on flea markets, garage sales, even occasional job site dumpster diving and sometimes eBay.
HB: How do you market your products?
TA: On my website talbotics.com.
